Earth Day is in the season of Easter and provides a ready connection between environmental care, renewal, and life. Celebrate creation through worship, education, and hands-on activities that embody Easter’s themes of renewal and life.

Earth Day is an annual event to promote ecology and environmental education. It began in 1970 after activists called for a day to focus on caring for the planet, partially in response to the devastating Santa Barbara Oil Spill in January 1969. Over fifty years later, Earth Day is now celebrated internationally. 

In Genesis 2:15, God tells the first human to “till and keep” the Garden (Heb. le’aveDah ulesamerah), which can also mean to serve and guard it. God calls us and the church as a whole to care for God’s creation. Earth Day occurs in the Easter season, a time to celebrate renewal, resurrection, and life. Celebrating Earth Day within your congregation and faith formation programming is one way to tangibly connect Easter themes to our daily living. 

Earth Day Faith Formation Activities 

There are many ways to commemorate Earth Day in your congregation. Gardening, planting a tree on church property, or participating in a neighborhood cleanup are intergenerational activities that can also be open to the community. Many local communities have their own Earth Day events that your youth group, confirmation class, or other groups from the congregation could volunteer in. 

For youth and young adults, a film screening followed by a discussion could be meaningful. For example, the documentary Renewal is about interfaith movements to care for the environment. The animated films The Lorax (2012) and Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest (1992) are both classic films accessible for younger audiences about the importance of caring for the environment. 

For those with Wednesday evening services or programming (or even the Sunday before or after Earth Day), consider hosting it outside if the weather permits, and including prayers, praise songs, or hymns about God’s creation. 

Earth Day Activities for Younger Children

Some of the best ways for kids to learn about ecological justice and God’s world around them are through hands-on activities. There is an abundance of materials out there with ideas, but two I have found particularly useful are Teaching Kids to Love the Earth by Marina Lacheki, et al. and Messy Church Does Science by David Gregory. Teaching Kids to Love the Earth has over 150 activities for kids written by educators and scientists designed to instill a love for the planet. Messy Church Does Science is part of the Messy Church brand, which is focused on experiential learning about faith, and the book itself is full of science experiments with Bible and faith tie-ins. Many of the experiments in the book are ecological, climate, and geology related, and each experiment comes with talking points to connect it to faith and the Bible. 

We at Spirit & Truth have published Learning Together: Created to Care, a VBS curriculum about ecology. The lessons and activities from this program could easily be adapted for an Earth Day celebration (or could extend Earth Day learnings into the summer)! 

Additional Earth Day Books and Resources

There are a few picture books for grade school and younger children that I use frequently when talking about ecology. To Change a Planet by Christina Soontornvat uses beautiful artwork to tell the story of the global ecological crisis in a digestible way for children to understand. We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom tells the stories of indigenous communities who are dedicated to ecological justice. Old Turtle by Douglas Wood is a classic fable about the environment and also uses expansive imagery for God. Finally, God’s Earth is Something to Fight For by Amy Houts ties stewardship of God’s creation directly with faith and vocation. 

For youth and adults, The Green Bible is an NRSV edition of the Bible that highlights ecological passages in green and contains essays and other reflections on ecology. Wild Hope: Stories for Lent from the Vanishing and All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings, both by Gayle Boss, take the stories of animals and create theological reflections aimed at teens but accessible for adults, as well. Wild Hope, in particular, highlights stories of endangered species as part of the theological reflections. 

Finally, many denominations have their own resource pages for ecological stewardship. Check in with your denomination to see what resources they provide. Ecumenically, the World Council of Churches has an entire webpage dedicated to faith and ecology, including information, global initiatives, Bible studies, and many more resources.

However you, your congregation, or your family commemorates Earth Day, take some time to marvel in the wonder and beauty of God’s creation and reflect on how we can continue to care for it. 

Peace and all good,

Dr. Pace Warfield

About the Writer

Dr. Pace Warfield (they/them/theirs) recently received their PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. Their dissertation, Our Greatest Glory: A Queer Theological Anthropology in Conversation with Martin Luther’s Genesis Lectures, examined Luther’s writings from queer and disability theological frameworks. They have presented on Luther, queer sexuality, and religious history throughout the country. Pace lives in Minneapolis with their two dogs.

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